Is it more stressful to lose your leg in a car accident or travel on a packed bus to school every day?

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Introduction

Is it more stressful to lose your leg in a car accident or travel on a packed bus to school every day? If a person was to be a victim of a car accident and lose their leg, they would suffer stress over a long period of time, they would worry allot and probably too much. Things would be crossing their mind all the time and they will not be able to get rid of the fact that they have lost a leg. It may not seem as bad initially, but there are also some long term effects and complications to being stressed over a long period of time or even for the person's entire life. Kiecolt - Glaser et al (1995) concluded that long- term stress impairs the effectiveness of the immune system to heal wounds. If the lost leg was to develop an infection, the stress accumulated from the infection added the long term stress from losing a leg would only delay the healing process. ...read more.

Middle

As mentioned earlier, a lot of worries will arise such as health, travel, social status, relationships etc. These individually accumulate stress, some occur more frequently than others. Another thing would be daily tasks that the person is used to doing, they may become much harder, forcing the person to adapt or live with them. The pressure from all those stressors may not even be enough for the person to handle, but they will have no choice or decision that could affect the situation. Some people could argue that a bionic leg would be a suitable replacement, but is it really? The costs will be high, a loan taken for the costs will just produce more stress, and with the possibility of having lost their job, they may not even be able to afford it, nor does it come close to the value of a real leg. A wooden leg also sounds like a fair option, but if they were to catch flame, its game over! ...read more.

Conclusion

They may start thinking ahead about all future bus rides and become pessimistic about each outcome, leading to more stress. Stress will be inevitable and a part of daily life. Hmm, maybe a missing leg wouldn't be so bad after all... Taking in everything into account, my conclusion is that losing a leg in a car accident would ultimately be more stressful, the long term effects are greater than any short term effects caused by being on a full bus every day. There may be possible alternatives or future outcomes that may solve the problem, but there is nothing that will bring back a person's leg. It's something that cannot be replaced and has its unique value. The fact that the person is disabled will bring down their physical appearance and ability, leading to being less socially acceptable and will cause an impact on mental health. Being in a packed bus does not necessarily reduce someone's social status as they will not be the only one "packed". The person will also have a bit more piece of mind knowing that everyone else on the bus is sharing his/her problem! ...read more.

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